BLUEWATER Resorts has announced further expansions at its Cebu properties and is now looking at development opportunities in Siquijor instead of Bohol and Palawan.
At its flagship 168-room Bluewater Maribago Resort, in Cebu’s Lapu-Lapu City, a mid-rise building of 50-60 rooms with serviced apartment options is in the works, which will be followed by two high-rise towers.
Meanwhile, Bluewater Sumilon, located about two hours south-east of metro Cebu, has expanded from 14 to 27 rooms, according to Bluewater Resorts president Julie Alegrado-Vergara.
However, in Bohol, Bluewater has altered its ambitious plans to expand its 54-room property on Panglao Island to 200 rooms and add meeting rooms and a convention hall.
“Now it’s wait and see; the game has changed,” Vergara explained, adding that occupancy rate has fallen to 40-45 per cent after the Bohol earthquake last October.
Bluewater Panglao did not suffer any major damage during the earthquake, although misperceptions regarding the level of damage sustained on Bohol island persist, noted Bluewater Resorts vice president for sales and marketing, Margie Munsayac.
In 2011, the group had disclosed the expansion plans for Bluewater Panglao, in addition to the purchase of a 2-ha land parcel in San Vicente, Palawan for a future resort.
However, Vergara said: “Everyone’s been waiting for (San Vicente’s new) airport, but it’s not there.”
She revealed that with the recent acquisition and ongoing renovation of a city hotel in Dumaguete that would be using a sister brand, Almont Hotels and Resorts, Bluewater is now looking to acquire a property in Siquijor.
Bluewater is planning to offer guests multi-resort stays amongst their properties in Cebu, Bohol, Dumaguete and Siquijor, if a common billing system could be worked out, she said.
